Passer (Catullus 2)
The very crickets interrupt
their love songs to hear Catullus’ address of his beloved’s
pet sparrow, sung to the simple accompaniment of guitar. The
play of vowel sounds interweaves the scree-ee-eetching of the
sparrow, teased by the girl (quicum … qu’
in sinu … cui primum
… appetenti … acris …
nitenti … iocari) with the
yearning "ahs" and "ayes" of the poet. Now
onli is "-a" the startled cry of pain at being bitten
(ap-petenti), and woeful contemplation (acris),
but also the sound of comfort in sol-a-ciolum
and ac-quiescat. The poem itself can be
summer up by its polysyllables – appententi,
desideria, solaciolum, and acquiescat,
and by the final emphatic position of tristis …
curas.
Artwork of Poem 2 by Ruth
Breindel's students
- Poem II
